


Silence

by nychus



Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: First Kiss, Fluff, Gift Exchange, IgNoct New Years Exchange, M/M, New Years
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-02
Updated: 2019-01-02
Packaged: 2019-10-03 05:03:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,205
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17277578
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nychus/pseuds/nychus
Summary: There are many forms of silence and Noctis always finds the happiest ones with Ignis.





	Silence

**Author's Note:**

  * For [bloodquartz](https://archiveofourown.org/users/bloodquartz/gifts).



> This is for locus-incerta for the New Year Gift Exchange! I do hope you enjoy it! Happy New Year!!!

The sound of the party muffled as soon as he stepped outside onto the balcony. Noctis wasn’t in the mood to party. He was much less in the mood to watch couples and people couple up so that they would have their first kiss of the new year. He had gotten a few requests from eligible ladies, but he turned them all down and eventually made his way outside.

The cool air and the lively party meant that Noctis felt relatively secure in the knowledge that no one would find him. There was, perhaps, one person that might, but only because of the strange bond they shared where Ignis could find him anywhere.

Sure enough, not a five minutes later, the door to the balcony opened again. The music and laughter of the party came into sharp focus for the few seconds it took for someone to exit and shut the door again.

“Hiding?” a slightly slurred Tenebraen accent asked.

Noctis couldn’t help but smile, “Drunk?”

It took much too long for Ignis to answer the question. “No.” Then, upon realizing the long delay, he sighed. “Well, I wasn’t planning on it. Apologies.”

“Eh, don’t worry, Specs. It’s the end of the year and the start of the new. It’s okay to let loose some.”

Ignis shrugged and for a moment, the happy silence they often found themselves in had drifted out onto the balcony with them. Noctis liked this silence. It was comforting when so many other silences were awkward. Ladies and gentlemen were under the impression that he was supposed to keep conversation going forever and any slip into silence meant that he didn’t want to be there. Usually, that was true, but even when it was, it was more likely he just didn’t know what to say. Prompto filled silence space with inane chatter and Gladio tended to fill it with grunts because they were usually training when the silence came.

But with Ignis, Noctis knew that silence wasn’t anything more than a lack of words. They didn’t need to speak to know what the other was thinking. They could happily sit together for hours without exchanging a word.

It was just one of the many things he loved about Ignis.

Somewhere in the distance a clock chimed the melody that indicated it was forty-five minutes past the hour. Fifteen minutes until midnight. Fifteen minutes until the new year.

“Remember when we were kids and they made us come to this?” Noctis asked. A snort from his right indicated that Ignis did indeed remember. “They always promised we’d have fun at it one day.”

“’You’ll be happy to have a dance partner at midnight. Someone to kiss!’” Ignis said with a fairly convincing chambermaid impression. “We were adamant that we would never be happy kissing anyone at midnight. I believe a certain prince exclaimed that he would only ever kiss his best friend.”

Noctis laughed. “Well, my best friend agreed easily, if you recall.”

“I do.”

Silence returned. Noctis was now happily lost in the thoughts of their younger selves. They would dart between dancers and hide under tables trying to dodge the clutches of their nannies and guardians. Inevitably, by midnight, they would be found curled up on the plushest seat they could find, fast asleep.

“Do you remember when you realized you wanted a dance partner and not the promises of a five-year-old?” Noctis asked.

This time, when the silence came, it was spiked with a bit of tension. Ignis took so long to answer that Noctis turned his gaze to look at his friend. Ignis was very pointedly looking over the lights of Insomnia.

“I don’t know,” he finally answered. It was a quiet answer, one that would have felt like a lie if he didn’t even more quietly add, “I’ll let you know when it happens.”

Those soft words took some time to register in Noctis’s brain. It took even longer for him to comprehend them; understand them. By the time that he fully understood, the sound of the party goers counting down to midnight permeated his brain. At ten seconds, he knew he had to make a decision. At five seconds, he realized he couldn’t wait to ask Ignis. At one second, he grabbed the lapels of his oldest friend’s jacket and pulled him into a kiss.

It wasn’t a great kiss. It wasn’t even a good kiss, but it was a kiss at the beginning of the new year.

When they parted, both were blushing furiously. Ignis’s glasses were sitting at an awkward angle and Noctis momentarily forgot that he was holding on to Ignis’s jacket. They stared at each other, doing not much more than blinking for a solid minute. A silent, very awkward minute where Noctis was beginning to regret absolutely everything. Slowly he pried his fingers away from the lapels and just as his arms dropped, Ignis leaned forward and grabbed Noctis’s face. For a second, he held it and then they closed their eyes and enjoyed a much better post-midnight kiss.

This time when they parted, their blushes were complimented with shy, hopeful smiles.

“I can’t believe you did that,” Ignis said.

“Me either. But I’m glad I did.”

“Me too.”

Inside the ballroom the party continued on. Songs were being sung and toasts were being made. It was a stark contrast to the silence on the balcony. Pure happiness expressed in very different ways.

“You want to get out of here?” Noctis asked. “Let’s go back to my rooms and watch a movie until we pass out.”

Ignis nodded and with a grin, Noctis grabbed his wrist and they made their way towards the royal apartments. It was like when they were kids, sneaking away to get into mischief. But they weren’t kids and they weren’t headed for mischief. They just wanted to be able to get to the silence of the unused rooms and enjoy each other’s company.

It didn’t take long for them to reach their destination. Noctis set up the movie while Ignis went to see if there was something in the cupboards. As Noctis hadn’t officially lived in the Citadel for a few years, there wasn’t much to be had. Glasses of water for both and nothing more.

Once they settled on the couch, Noctis curled tightly into Ignis, they started the movie. They didn’t speak of what this meant for them, they didn’t need to. The silence between them meant that they would navigate this new aspect of their lives as they would anything else; one step at a time. There would be hurdles and challenges, but they would go at them head on and they would do it together.

Perhaps, Noctis thought as he gave into the pull of sleep, perhaps the reason why he never made it past a couple of dates with anyone was because the silence was never right. People wanted to fill the silence and there is no need to. Silence is just as good as conversation.

The last thing that Noctis remembered before falling asleep, was Ignis placing a kiss to the top of his head. He responded with a squeeze and together they drifted into the new year, happy.

**Author's Note:**

> The next day Regis knocks on Noctis's door to see if he wants brunch. He sees Ignis still asleep on the couch and starts asking all the embarrassing questions much to Noctis's chagrin. Noctis starts to try to physically push his father out the door while Regis goes all deadweight on him.


End file.
